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Jammu and Kashmir will have to pass special laws to be able to implement the goods and services tax (GST), as its current Constitutional status does not mandate the applicability of the new indirect tax reform in the state. The Central GST (CGST) and Integrated GST (IGST) Bills, introduced in the Lok Sabha on Monday, as part of the last legislative exercise in Parliament, before the tax regime is rolled out from July 1, extend to the whole of India expect Jammu and Kashmir. Business Standard New Delhi,29th March 2017

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley (pictured) on Tuesday said the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Bills were based on the principle of “shared sovereignty” and the government wants to pass these landmark tax reforms throughaJaitley was briefing the party MPs after the Bharatiya Janata Party´s (BJP´s) parliamentary party meeting in New Delhi, which was also attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “The finance minister in detail briefed the party MPs about all the four GST Bills and said these are based on the principle of shared sovereignty,” Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth Kumar said, adding these were drafted after detailed discussions in the GST Council. Business Standard New Delhi,29th March 2017

The Finance Bill 2017 has inserted an explanation that does away with the ambiguity regarding the discretionary powers of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) in deciding the quantum of penalty levied against companies. This will provide relief to several companies reeling under heavy penalties post the Supreme Court’s Roofit judgment in 2015. The SC had, in its ruling in the matter of Roofit Industries in November 2015, said that Sebi had no discretionary power under Section 15J of the SEBI Act, 1992 to reduce penalties imposed on companies. Following the judgment, penalty of crores of rupees was levied by Sebi in different matters. This led to the Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT) remanding several matters back to Sebi and quite a few appeals being withdrawn by the appellants fearing higher penalties.  “The inclusion of the explanation has finally settled the position and done away with the conflict in the minds of the regulator and the appellate body as to ...

SAPAN GUPTA National Practice Head Banking & Finance, Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas Implementation of the existing legal provisions is crucial to pun ishing errant promoters, who had defaulted on bank loans, said Sapan Gupta, National Practice Head, Banking & Finance, Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas, a large legal firm. The Bankruptcy Act is going to be the most effective recovery tool in a time-bound manner for banks grappling with bad loans, Gupta told Saikat Das. Edited excerpts: What needs to be done to punish errant promoters who defaulted on bank loans? It has long been articulated that a swift legal process will go a long way, both as a resolution tool and a deterrent, when it comes to errant promoters. However, even the existing provisions are fairly adequate to deal with a many such instances. For instance, the wilful defaulters' provisions of RBI limit the capacity of such promoters and their other companies to do business. Enactments such as SARFAESI attempt t...

Come July 1, leasing of land, renting of buildings as well as equated monthly instalments (EMIs) paid for purchase of underconstruction houses will start attracting the goods and services tax (GST). Sale of land and buildings will be, however, out of the purview of the GST. Such transactions will continue to attract stamp duty, according to the legislations Finance Minister Arun Jaitley introduced in the Lok Sabha on Monday. Electricity has also been kept out of the GST´s ambit. The GST, which the government intends to roll out from July 1, will subsume central excise, service tax and state valueadded tax among other indirect levies on manufactured goods and services. The Central GST (CGST) Bill —one of the four legislations introduced —states that any lease, tenancy, easement or licence to occupy land will be considered as supply of service. Also, any lease or letting out of buildings, includingacommercial, industrial or residential complex, for business or commerce, either wh...